Good morning, Mobile World Congresspeople!
More than 100,000 telecom executives, mobile industry insiders, analysts, reporters, and gadget gawkers have descended on Barcelona for Mobile World Congress—sorry, MWC Barcelona. This daily email from Quartz is your guide to the goings on for the next four days at the Fira de Barcelona, whether you’re at the conference or following from afar.
This year’s team includes reporter Dave Gershgorn, Quartz’s AI investigator and Microsoft whisperer, deputy tech editor Mike Murphy, who’s on the lookout for ways to improve the internet, and finance editor Jason Karaian, who seeks out tales of blockchains and balance sheets. Send us your tips and tapas recommendations.
Unlike last year, when it snowed, it’s expected to be warm and sunny by the Balearic sea. It will hit 16°C (60°F) today, and only go up from there. Not that you can tell from inside the cavernous, fluorescent-lit Fira.
Setting the scene
The theme of this year’s MWC is “Intelligent Connectivity.” Is there is any other kind?
Anyway, three big themes are converging at the center of the mobile universe this week: 5G, foldable phones, and fractious politics.
If you thought there was a lot of 5G hype last year, steel yourself. Carriers are starting to roll out 5G networks for real in 2019, so nearly every device manufacturer is racing to position themselves as a leader in the newfangled technology. Realistically, these networks are only starting to be built, and almost no one can actually take advantage of the networks in their daily life for years.
As far as devices go, every phonemaker seems intent on releasing a folding phone this year (see below for details). To get one, be prepared to open something else that folds—your wallet—because these things are not cheap.
Huawei is one of the expo’s largest sponsors, but that’s not why it will be the talk of the Fira this week. The world’s largest network equipment seller is under fire from US officials, who accuse it of building backdoors into telecom systems on behalf of spies in Beijing. America’s attempts to enlist European allies in blacklisting the Chinese firm appear to be faltering, though, and Huawei will seek to win converts in Barcelona by trying to focus on technology, not geopolitics.
Total information awareness
Follow Quartz’s coverage from MWC during the week here. For even more news and views from the expo, check out Mobile World Live, Engadget, The Verge, and Light Reading. (CNet also has coverage in Spanish, y El País también. For Catalan, there’s El Nacional.)
What everyone is talking about
Although the expo officially kicks off today, several tech companies jumped the gun and announced a welter of new products in the days before the expo. Here’s a rapid rundown of the weekend’s announcements:
Huawei. The Chinese tech giant introduced a new version of the MateBook X Pro laptop with a massive, sharp screen that gives Apple a run for its money. Huawei also made waves with the Mate X, what it calls the “world’s fastest foldable 5G phone.” (Take that, Samsung.) Living on the edge will cost you a lot of yuan: The Mate X starts at a cool €2,299 ($2,600).
Xiaomi. According to the Chinese gadget-maker, “the 5G era has arrived!” You’ll probably hear a lot of people say that this week, but for Xiaomi it means a 5G-compatible version of the Mi Mix 3 it released last year (it also now has a slide-out selfie camera). The company also launched a new flagship device, the Mi 9, that has huge display, wireless charging, and three rear cameras for €449.
Nokia. HMD, the Finnish group which owns the rights to the iconic mobile brand, unveiled five new low-cost devices. These range from the €30 feature phone with a month-long battery life to the €700 flagship that features five (yes, five) cameras—a nightmare for trypophobics.
LG. The Korean tech company unveiled its snappily named V50 ThinQ 5G, along with a few other devices. It also unveiled a bizarre case for the phone that features a second screen: Instead of following its rivals with a premium-priced folding phone, it made one with two screens that snap together. Simple! The ThinQ can also be controlled by hand gestures, so if you ever wanted to answer a call with the classic “talk to the hand” move, you’re in luck.
Microsoft. CEO Satya Nadella brought two of his top lieutenants to Barcelona to announce two new products, neither of which is a phone. (Disruptive!) Leather-jacketed cloud exec Julia White announced the Azure Kinect, a camera with depth-sensing capabilities and a seven-microphone array. Alex Kipman then announced the $3,500 HoloLens 2, an update to the four-year-old augmented reality headset.
What to watch for today
You’re already late. At 12:35am this morning, MWC organizers emailed attendees to warn them that strikes will lead to severely reduced services during busy periods. The same thing happened in 2016, when a strike wreaked “chaos” throughout the city. But no big deal, at least you can get an Uber. Oh.
It’s all happening. Today is the first day of a front-loaded conference, which means there’s a ton of sessions, networking events, and keynote speeches. In the main auditorium, things kick off with just about every telco CEO talking about “Intelligently Connecting the World,” followed by panel discussion about ethics and diversity in AI. Microsoft’s Nadella and Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche will chat about how the two have reinvented their respective companies, while the CEOs of HTC, Vimeo, and Warner Music dip into “immersive content,
More phones? More phones! Sony will unveil its newest phones bright and early, including one that’s rumored to have a funky 21:9 screen ratio. OnePlus is also expected to show off its new 5G phone at its booth when the show floor opens.
The day in Huawei. The telecom giant is hosting two side events: a “Product & Solution Launch” (pretty self-explanatory) and a “Digital Transformation of Industries Summit,” featuring speakers from DBS Bank, DHL, Turkish Airlines, and, er, Huawei. Rotating chairman Ken Hu will speak at the opening panel of the invite-only ministerial program, on “Redefining inclusion.”
Not for the squeamish. Ever feel like you’re attached to your phone? This will become all too real for biohacking entrepreneur Edgar Pons Forn, who is getting implanted with a smart chip live on stage at the startup-focused 4YFN event. Alex Rodriguez Vitello will do the honors, and tells Quartz there will be “straight-up cameras and everything” to give attendees a view of the procedure, followed by tests of Edgar 2.0 paying for things and unlocking doors with his implant.
Chart interlude
The $2,600 Huawei Mate X costs a lot of dinero, to borrow a word from our Spanish hosts. What else can you get for that price? A lot of other phones.
Seen and heard
It is never not weird to be in a room of full-grown adults clapping and cheering for a succession of glass-covered plastic rectangles.
The eastern European telco urging journalists to visit its booth to experience a breakthrough in “CLOUD VIDEO SURVEILLANCE” (in all caps) should probably rethink how sinister that sounds.
Spain has surpassed Italy as the world’s healthiest country, according to Bloomberg’s healthiest country index. Maybe not this week, though, as tens of thousands of coffee-stained tech bloggers and harried executive assistants work around the clock, oscillating between starvation and consuming their bodyweight in jamón ibérico.
This is the land of GDPR, yet reportedly 70% of attendees signed up for the “BREEZ” biometric access system to get slightly quicker entry into the expo.
News from around the world
Donald Trump raised hopes of a US-China trade deal. On Sunday the US president tweeted that talks that had been extended over the weekend were “very productive,” and that he would delay an increase in tariffs on Chinese goods planned for March 1. The two sides are trying to iron out differences on China’s treatment of state-owned enterprises, forced technology transfers, and other matters.
Green Book won the Oscar for best movie. It’s a bad look for the Oscars, given the 1960s-set film about a black concert pianist and his white chauffeur has been criticised for its cheesy portrayal of racial dynamics. Still, in a history-making moment, Spike Lee finally won his first (that’s not a typo) Oscar, for best adapted screenplay for BlackKkKlansman. His passionate acceptance speech (paywall) exhorted listeners to get involved in the 2020 presidential election.
Theresa May postponed a key Brexit vote, again. The British prime minister said lawmakers won’t vote this week on the agreement governing the UK’s departure from the European Union, but it will happen by March 12. Meanwhile, Europe is reportedly considering a plan to allow the UK to delay its exit, scheduled for March 29, to 2021.
Pope Francis called for “an all-out battle against the abuse of minors.” The pope spoke after a four-day Vatican meeting (paywall) on clerical sexual abuse, but did not offer any new efforts (paywall) to hold priests who abuse children accountable.
Matters of debate
Work is the new religion for America’s elite. The affluent are looking to their jobs for identity, transcendence, and community.
Late bloomers are happier and more successful. Early failures are great practice for building resilience, and figuring out how to get past obstacles.
Individual investors aren’t “dumb money.” New research shows they make better decisions than Wall Street acknowledges.
Surprising discoveries
The trauma caused by distance from nature has a name. It’s called “psychoterratica.”
Rental goats could prevent forest fires. A California town is crowdsourcing funds to bring in goats that eat flammable plants (and most everything else) in a campaign called “Goat Fund Me.”
Indonesia has the least volatile economy of the 21st century. Its GDP per capita grew between 3% and 5% every year from 2002 to 2017.
Our best wishes for an inspiring day at the expo. Please send any news, tips, coffee, and jamón ibérico to us, Dave, Mike, and Jason. The best way to keep up with news while you’re on the go is with the Quartz app.